Lust for Blood: The Truth About Vampire Criminals

No one expected ex-con Roy Gutfinski to stay out of trouble once he got out into the world. Covered in facial tattoos and body modifications designed to make him look inhuman, Gutfinski, who had legally changed his name to Caius Veiovis, had little hope for entering mainstream society. So it shocked no one to find him in jail again, this time accused of participating in a vicious triple homicide intended to stop witnesses from testifying against a high-ranking Hells Angels member named Adam Lee Hall. Gutfinski was an easy pick for someone putting together a crew for a crime like this. He is a vampire and a Satanist.

Caius Veiovis, then known as Roy Gutfinski, served almost 7 1/2 years in prison in Maine for charges including elevated aggravated assault after he and his 16-year-old girlfriend cut a teenager's back with a razor and kissed as they licked the blood. The 1999 injury required 32 stitches to close.

The Kennebec Journal reported Gutfinski claimed to be a vampire and a Satan worshipper. His name was changed while in prison.

Contempt is at the root of our most horrid crimes -- contempt for society, morality, ourselves, and our own higher natures. We live in a society that teaches its children to be contemptuous of their fellow Americans, to despise our traditions, and to tear down the moral foundations on which our nation is built.

Author Colin Wilson once observed that cannibalism is the ultimate expression of contempt. It represents total victory and domination of the victim. A person is not just murdered, but consumed and excreted in the ultimate act of dehumanization. But cannibalism is only one expression of this scorn for life. Unfortunately much more common, but fortunately not always fatal, is blood fetishism and the “vampire lifestyle” which has played a central role in some of recent history’s most sensational crimes.

Blood fetishism is considered a paraphilia but in most cases it actually refers to “vampire lifestylers” – people who adopt alternate vampire personae with such gusto they attempt to live as vampires in all ways, including becoming nocturnal and drinking blood. Olga Hoyt’s near legendary Lust for Blood served as my introduction to the world of blood drinkers. Later, while pursuing my degree in comparative religion, I worked on a project about modern vampire mythology where I came across Jeff Guinn’s Something in the Blood, which was a kind of ethnography of blood drinkers. In both those books I saw a pattern develop that holds true of every crime involving vampirism I've seen since.

Male "vampires" tend to be sexual sadists who derive pleasure from dominating others. They seek out partners who are easy to manipulate or will play along with their sado-masochistic fantasy life. Females often claim to have a history of sexual abuse and use bloodletting as a punishment or payment for sexual activity. Both frequent forums, clubs, or groups where they can find others who share their interests, and, unsurprisingly, drug use is often involved.

In Something in the Blood a woman calling herself Cayne Presley was interviewed. She told Guinn that she often traded sex for blood, but never took money. At one point the young woman married a 67-year-old man who let her drink his blood.